This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

TIFF '07: The buzz

Respondents to our seventh annual "Chasing the Buzz" poll are not just buzzing, they're positively hot and bothered.

Our panel of 24 pundits, in selecting 55 of the coolest films out of 349 screening at the Toronto International Film Festival (Thursday until Sept. 15), went in for sex, violence and grizzly adventure.

Their top pick with four votes is Ang Lee's Lust, Caution, a randy revelation on life in pre-Revolution Shanghai. It stars Tony Leung Chiu Wai, who finally gets it on after the enforced chastity of Wong Kar-wai's In the Mood for Love.

Following close behind, and breathing almost as heavily, are two films that received three votes apiece: horror king George Romero's 21st-century zombie rekindling Diary of the Dead; and Sean Penn's wilderness adventure Into the Wild, based on the true story of a city boy who braved Alaska's feral beasts on a dangerous solo hike.

Another 10 films took two votes apiece, followed by 42 that each received a single nod.

The mood this year is definitely more towards the dramatic, after last year's sunnier poll where comedy films led the pack.

Is it just happenstance, or indicative of a festival that is loaded with weighty celluloid?

Biggest surprise? Just one vote for The Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men, a huge hit at Cannes. Maybe our pundits are just waiting for it to arrive in theatres.

Our panellists included critics, programmers and regular film buffs, all with a keen interest in TIFF. The rules this year were the same. We asked each respondent to name the three – and only three – films he or she is most looking forward to at the festival.

We asked them not to name any films with which they had any personal involvement.

It's tough narrowing 349 films down to just three, but the task is worth it. Previous "Chasing the Buzz" polls have tracked such winners as Borat, Capote, Whale Rider and Gunner Palace on the long-distance radar.

And now here are this year's selections:

Steve Almond, film buff, parabola.ca:

The Tracey Fragments: "Three for the price of one: great Canadian talents in directing (Bruce McDonald), acting (Ellen Page) and music (Broken Social Scene)."

Just Buried (Chaz Thorne): "You can't celebrate Canadian film without a dramedy involving exploitation of the recently dead."

My Winnipeg (Guy Maddin): "I was enthralled with Brand Upon the Brain!, so I'll check out Maddin's warped vision any day."

Gail Anthony, film buff/executive assistant:

Poor Boy's Game (Clement Virgo): "I'll probably have to shield my eyes once or twice, but I can't wait to see screen lion Danny Glover take on fascinating newcomer Rossif Sutherland, son of cinema royalty Donald Sutherland and Francine Racette."

Breakfast With Scot (Laurie Lynd): "For pure pleasure I plan to escape to this story of a gay jock sportscaster who learns some unexpected life lessons when he has to babysit a complicated young boy."

Closing the Ring (Richard Attenborough): "I'm willing to line up right now to watch Super Pros Shirley MacLaine and Christopher Plummer show all those movie star wannabes how it's done."

No Country for Old Men (Joel and Ethan Coen): "Combine a Pulitzer-winning novelist (Cormac McCarthy), by which this film is inspired, and add the imagination of the Coen Brothers and you have pure screen magic."

Terror's Advocate (Barbet Schroeder): "The alchemy of terror, controversy and adventure appears to be a compelling must-see."

Love Comes Lately (Jan Schütte): "You can't ask for a better story than an 80-year-old man who can't and won't give up the pursuit of women."

Christopher Bales, blogger, Crunchy Squirrel Goes to Toronto:

Diary of the Dead (George A. Romero): "Romero is one of the greats of horror cinema. I wouldn't miss his newest zombie film for anything."

M (Lee Myung-se): "A horror melodrama by one of South Korea's most eclectic and divisive directors should be fascinating stuff."

DAINIPPONJIN (Hitoshi Matsumoto): "An oddball Japanese comedy that could be the festival's surreal highlight."

Dusty Cohl, TIFF co-founder:

Eastern Promises (David Cronenberg).

Fugitive Pieces (Jeremy Podeswa).

Redacted (Brian De Palma): "I'm really anxious to see that. The very first film I saw of his was a take-off on enlistment for Vietnam. Now I'd love to see what he does with Iraq."

Noah Cowan, TIFF co-director:

Iron Ladies of Liberia (Daniel Junge and Siatta Scott Johnson): "These are meant to be the most inspirational women ever put to film."

Mother Of Tears (Dario Argento): "Argento is about as good as horror gets for a Baroque freak like me."

Munyurangabo (Lee Isaac Chung): "This screened only one time at Cannes, yet garnered some rave reviews."

Ping Pong Playa' (Jessica Yu): "A new fiction feature from one of today's up-and-coming documentarians? I'm curious, and definitely a fan of Yu."

Chrysalis (Julien Leclercq): "Everything I've seen and heard about this French futuristic action-thriller makes it out to be very promising."

Gabrielle Free, director of communications, MuchMusic:

The Dictator Hunter (Klaartje Quirijns): "This doc promises to be a compelling look at Reed Brody of Human Rights Watch, a fascinating and committed man."

Ping Pong Playa' (Yu): "Jane Schoettle has a habit of programming audience favourites so I'm always eager to see her picks – and this one looks charming."

Juno (Jason Reitman): "Thank You for Smoking was brilliant. I can't wait to see his follow-up."

Alex Ganetakos, producer, CBC's Triple Sensation:

Nightwatching (Peter Greenaway): "Greenaway is the most innovative cinematic artist of our time – I'll be the one sitting in the front row begging for more."

Paranoid Park (Gus Van Sant): ``I've been catching Van Sant's work at the fest since Drugstore Cowboy in '89, and with each new film I admire him even more."

Chacun Son Cinema (To Each His Own Cinema) (various): "33 shorts by 33 greats exploring their feelings about cinema – the ultimate experience for film lovers."

Piers Handling, TIFF director and CEO:

Buddha Collapsed Out Of Shame (Hana Makhmalbaf): "How can you resist the title? Hana, daughter of the famed Iranian filmmaker Mohsen Makhmalbaf, has made a film about girls in Afghanistan. It promises to get inside the heads of children who have always been such a key element in Iranian cinema."

Useless (Jia Zhang-ke): "Jia is one of the cinema's great new voices, who moves between fiction and documentary with equal facility. After last year's film on an artist (Dong), his new documentary takes a look at the ins and outs of China's burgeoning fashion industry."

Encounters at the End of the World (Werner Herzog): "I was brought up on the myth of Scott's Last Expedition to the South Pole. Herzog dons a parka, heads for the Antarctic, and no doubt uses his singular and iconoclastic personality to uncover realities we can only imagine."

Shake Hands with the Devil (Roger Spottiswoode): "Always fun to watch Canada's only bona fide movie star – Roy Dupuis – and it is a great and important story."

Into the Wild (Sean Penn): "Perfect match of an eccentric true story (Christopher McCandless's story) and the perfect filmmaker to tell that story, Sean Penn."

Eugene Hernandez, editor-in-chief, indieWIRE, com:

A Jihad for Love (Parvez Sharma): ``This long-in-the-works documentary exploring the intersection of homosexuality and Islam will surely provoke discussion."

Persepolis (Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi): "Adapted from the popular graphic novels that follow a young girl growing up in Iran before moving to Europe amidst her country's revolution."

I'm Not There (Todd Haynes): "A masterful filmmaker may divide audiences with his deconstruction of the life and work of a music icon because different actors are portraying Bob Dylan during various periods of his life."

Charles Johnston, writer, film buff:

Into the Wild (Penn): "The only thing more intense than his own performances are the ones he pushes other actors to deliver."

Mister Lonely (Harmony Korine): "After waiting years to see what he would do next, a trip to a commune full of celebrity impersonators is a dream come true."

Redacted (Brian De Palma): "I loved his haunting take on the Vietnam war. I'm fascinated to see what he does with a modern conflict."

Robert Koehler, film critic, Variety, CinemaScope and Cineaste:

Useless (Jia Zhang-ke): "No filmmaker in the lineup is more essential viewing than China's most brilliant filmmaker, whose Still Life last year won Venice's Golden Lion. The new film is another film on an artist, in this case famed Chinese fashion designer Ma Ke."

Death in the Life of Encantos (Lav Diaz): "Diaz has made an eight-hour film about the return of a man to his homeland ravaged by typhoon Reming."

At Sea (Peter Hutton): "I anticipate that few films in all of 2007 will be more beautiful than Peter Hutton's latest."

Carla MacDonald, blogger, Our Lady of Perpetual Hell:

Stuck (Stuart Gordon): "There is nothing better than gruesomely pitch-black comedies and I think that, in Gordon's hands, that's exactly what this story could be."

Encounters at the End of the World (Herzog): "I know that when Herzog goes to Antarctica, he won't return with a film that features talking penguins."

Joy Division (Grant Gee): "I've been a fan of this band so long, I have them on vinyl; with newly discovered audio and concert footage, I'm there – but is it too early in the season to wear all-black?"

Michèle Maheux, TIFF managing director:

Lust, Caution (Ang Lee): "One of the true masters of world cinema, returning to Asia for this period thriller: lust, espionage, erotic obsession ... sounds riveting."

Into the Wild (Penn): "His finest work could well become the most beloved film of TIFF '07 amongst those who are really most important: citizens of Toronto.... The film can be expected to touch people as deeply as it irritates others."

Lou Reed's Berlin (Julian Schnabel): "Lou Reed is an icon and Schnabel's artistry in telling whatever tale there is to tell is likely to be glorious, even if not for every taste."

Elizabeth: The Golden Age (Shekhar Kapur) "Unlike most years, there is only one big studio potentially serious Oscar player in the festival. This is it. I adore the first film and the material in this part of Elizabeth's life seems richer, so let's hope that Kapur delivers once again on all of his promise."

B. Ruby Rich, film critic/professor, UC Santa Cruz:

Fugitive Pieces (Jeremy Podeswa): "I loved Podeswa's first two features and am really interested in what his filmmaking is like now, after years of A-list TV directing."

Man From Plains (Jonathan Demme): "Jimmy Carter is probably the most underestimated U.S. president, certainly the most important."

Persepolis (Satrapi, Paronnaud): "How could I miss it? Its personal story and newfangled animation are my idea of pleasure, and with original author/illustrator Satrapi on board along with Paronnaud as both co-writers and co-directors, it should be a delight."

Anne Thompson, deputy editor, Variety.com:

Lust, Caution (Lee): "How often do we get to see an NC-17 art film thriller that mixes sex and politics, gorgeously directed by a master? I'm there."

Eastern Promises (Cronenberg): "Advance word is good on Cronenberg's follow-up to A History of Violence, which reunites the director with Viggo Mortenson, who tangles with Naomi Watts."

Margot at the Wedding (Noah Baumbach): "Two sisters played by Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Jason Leigh tussle in the dais before Leigh marries Jack Black. I hear it's darkly funny, raw family drama."

Jeffrey Wells, columnist, Hollywood Elsewhere:

The Orphanage (Juan Antonio Bayona): "A sublimely satisfying haunted-house thriller – not quite a horror film, and definitely for adults – in the tradition of Don't Look Now, The Haunting and The Innocents."

In The Valley of Elah (Paul Haggis): "This is a highly persuasive anti-Iraq War film disguised as a whodunit policier, and a broken-heart film about fathers and sons. Deeply moving performances from Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron, Susan Sarandon."

Margot at the Wedding (Noah Baumbach): "I've read the script and I know it's a sharp piece – I know this, okay? – and with Jack Black co-starring, how can it miss?"

Susan Wloszczyna, film reporter, USA Today:

The Savages (Tamara Jenkins): ``I'm a sucker for bittersweet character studies. Somehow the thought of Philip Seymour Hoffman and Laura Linney as siblings going at it while tending their sickly father is a turn-on."

I'm Not There (Haynes): "Will the never-timid Haynes pull off six disparate actors, including a female Aussie and a black youngster, as the many faces of Bob Dylan? Good or bad, a must-see – and a must-hear."

Diary of the Dead (Romero): "A master of horror returns to his indie roots and recharges his zombie engines, imagining a 21st-century outbreak of flesh-munchers."

More from The Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com